PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (April 24, 2026) – The Palm Beach Cardinals broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning by scoring seven runs en route to a 12-4 win over the St. Lucie Mets on Friday night at Clover Park. It was the third time in four games in the series the Cardinals put up 11-plus runs.
The fateful sixth inning started harmless enough when Cam Nickens beat out an infield single with one out. The inning quickly unraveled on Mets reliever Ernesto Mercedes, who then walked a batter and plunked a batter to load the bases. Mercedes then allowed runs to score on back-to-back wild pitches that made it 4-3 and 5-3.
Mercedes walked another batter to reload the bases and was relieved by Miguel Mejias. Mejias walked his first batter to force in a run that made it 6-3. Jack Gurevitch then clubbed a two-run single to increase the Cardinals lead to 8-3. Alex Birge capped the inning with a two-run triple for a 10-3 lead.
Gurevitch added a solo home run in the eighth off Luis Alvarez. Luis Pino hit a sac fly in the ninth for the Cardinals final run.
The Mets were in the game early and tied the contest 1-1 on a RBI double by Randy Guzman in the first inning. Guzman gave the Mets a brief lead with a RBI single in the third that made it 2-1 Mets.
The Cardinals got a two-run single by Pino in the fourth inning off Mets starter Cam Tilly that put the Cardinals back in front 3-2. Mets designated hitter AJ Salgado hit his fourth home run of the year in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game 3-3.
Guzman went 2 for 4 with a double and two RBI.
Sam Biller was 2 for 4 with a double and a run.
Mets leadoff hitter Elian Peña reached base three times by going 1 for 3 with a single and two walks.
Tilly received a no-decision. He was charged with three runs on five hits over 4.0 innings. He walked one and struck out four.
Mercedes took the loss. He allowed five runs in 0.1 innings.
Palm Beach reliever Patrick Galle got the win after holding the Mets scoreless for 1.2 innings behind starter Jacob Odle.
The Mets (9-10) and Cardinals (14-5) play the fifth game of their series at Clover Park on Saturday. First pitch is 6:10 p.m. It’s Starry Night. The Mets will wear special jerseys to support the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation and Hope in Gray. Fans can bid on the game-worn autographed jerseys at stluciemets.com/auction. All proceeds go towards the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. There will be a postgame lantern ceremony. Fans are encouraged to visit the PBTF table on the concourse to sign up to participate in the ceremony. There will also be postgame fireworks.